Chapter 33: The Defense of Xinghe County - Raid on the Arsenal

  Tianzhen City Outer Stone Jiao Mountain

  Shijiazhuang is called a mountain, but it's actually just a few earth mounds. The terrain here isn't particularly high, nor is it a strategic location, so neither the 61st Army nor the Japanese Chahar Expeditionary Force sent troops to occupy this place.

  However, there is now a contingent here, and this contingent is none other than Chen Feng's special warfare team. The number of people in Chen Feng's special warfare team is not large, and previously Chen Feng had selected more than 400 men who met the conditions to enter the special warfare team. However, as the troops continued to expand, the shortcomings of the security group's lack of officers became apparent. Forcing Chen Feng to constantly pull soldiers from the special warfare team to serve as grassroots military officers in the field troops, so that the special warfare team's organization became smaller and smaller, and now it only has a battalion with two companies, with a total strength of more than 220 people.

  However, the remaining two hundred or so people are the essence of the security team and the strongest single soldier collection. This time Chen Feng took the mountain road from Tianzhen to Xinghe for defense deployment, adopting a tactical approach to consume the enemy's living forces through successive blocking and attrition warfare. Both sides were fighting positional warfare and attrition warfare, so there was not much use for the special forces left behind.

  Although the troops attacking the city on this side of Tianzhen County were diverted, the situation was still very severe. The Chahar army dispatched three infantry regiments and nine pseudo-military cavalry divisions with a strong force that was several times larger than the defending army. The pressure on the 61st Army was still great, so Chen Feng decided to leave behind a special warfare team to find opportunities to give the Japanese army some more trouble and support the Jin-Sui army in Tianzhen County from the side.

  After receiving Chen Feng's order, Xu Biao immediately led the special warfare team to move to Shijiao Mountain. Although this is not a dangerous place, the forest is very confusing and it is a good place for hiding people. As long as it is not a large Japanese army that comes to search the mountain, reconnaissance planes alone cannot discover them.

  "Captain, I'm back." The speaker was Wang Haitao, codename Sea Eagle, the leader of the first squad of the special warfare team. He had just led his team out to scout enemy intelligence and had returned to report.

  "How is it?" Xu Bao's cold and stern face showed no expression at all.

  "The Japanese command post was set up in a small village called Xiaolizhuang, 15 kilometers outside of Tianzhen Town. The defense was very strict, with Japanese and puppet troops guarding the village on all sides, and patrol teams patrolling continuously. We didn't have any chance at all." said Wang Haitao.

  "Hmm, it seems that our first move has been temporarily put on hold. The Kwantung Army is indeed the most elite of the Japanese army, and their quality is truly top-notch." Xu Bao said.

  "But we discovered the Japanese army's arsenal, and damn it was all out in the open. Over a hundred large trucks and several hundred horse-drawn carts. If planned well, there should still be an opportunity." Wang Haitao said.

  "Oh! The devils' arsenal? Where is it located and how many people are guarding it?" Xu Bao asked with a gleam in his eyes.

  "About five kilometers away from Xiaolizhuang, between Tianzhen and Xiaolizhuang, the devils might have placed an ammunition depot there for the convenience of supplying the front-line troops. The defending army was quite numerous, I observed that there were at least one infantry regiment, the devils had set up three defense lines around the ammunition depot to prevent enemy surprise attacks, each line was guarded by an infantry company, and there were also a large number of patrol teams patrolling, surprisingly, there were even a large number of cavalrymen somewhere." Wang Haitao said in detail.

  "A forced attack is definitely not feasible. On the one hand, we are outnumbered by the enemy, and on the other hand, we are too close to the Japanese command center. Once the gunfire sounds, the devils from Xiaoli Village can arrive in just a few minutes. Therefore, this battle can only be won through clever tactics, not brute force." Xu Bao said with furrowed brows.

  "Captain, why don't we disguise ourselves and sneak in? Once we get close to the Japanese army's arsenal, one hand grenade can take care of all their ammunition," said Wang Haitao.

  "That's a good idea, but the Japanese army is used to setting passwords, and we don't have one, so we can't sneak in very far without being discovered. This method won't work."

  "What's to be done?"

  "Haitao, how are the three defense lines of the devils set up? How far is each line from the ammunition depot?" Xu Biao asked after a moment's thought.

  "The three defense lines of the devils are set up with the arsenal as the center, and the outermost line is about five kilometers away from the arsenal. The number of defenders in each direction, east, south, west, and north, is one battalion, plus a cavalry regiment of puppet troops. The second line is less than two kilometers away from the arsenal, where the devils have set up three checkpoints to inspect passing vehicles and personnel. The third line is located near the arsenal, where the devil's barracks are also located, and that line surrounds both the barracks and the arsenal."

  Xu Bao thought for a moment and said, "A distance of two kilometers, there is an opportunity. You see, the little devil's second line of defense is only less than two kilometers away from the ammunition storage point. With the range of our mortars in hand, we can completely hit it. As long as we break through the little devil's first line of defense, it is entirely possible to destroy their arsenal with one shot."

  "But the little devils are guarding the first line of defense very tightly, not only checking passing vehicles but also interrogating soldiers. We don't have a password, how can we mix in?" said Huang Tieshan, the captain of the second company of the Special Warfare Battalion.

  "It's now 8:30, the little devil's password must have changed. We just need to get either the previous or next sentence of the password and we'll be fine, that shouldn't be a problem. But I'm worried about being blocked from retreating after completing the task. Alright, for tonight's operation, I'll lead the team myself. You and Grey Wolf will provide cover for us on the outside, as soon as you hear the cannon fire, immediately launch a surprise attack on the enemy's first line of defense. After we're done, we'll immediately retreat back to Xinghe." Xu Bao said.

  "Great, Captain, your Japanese is good, you're the most suitable to lead the team. This job requires technique, I and Tuo Lang will just do some physical labor this time." Wang Haitao said with a smile.

  "I'll take a combat team of three, all dressed in Little Devil's dog skin, and we can't use special forces equipment. Each of us will carry an M38 rifle, two bayonets at the waist, and bring a 60mm mortar gun. We'll set out in half an hour, you two should get ready as well." Xu Bao said.

  Yes

  ........

  On the dirt road leading to the Japanese army's arsenal, a patrol of thirteen men was marching forward in big strides.

  Suddenly, the sound of a car engine came from the front, followed by a dazzling white light shining over, and a military truck slowly drove towards this side.

  "Halt! What are you people doing?" the leading sergeant asked gruffly.

  Seeing someone blocking the way ahead, the car slowed down and stopped. Then a superior soldier hastily stuck his head out of the car and said: "Don't misunderstand, we are from the 2nd Independent Mixed Brigade, we have come to replenish ammunition, please take care!"

  "Get off!" Sergeant obviously didn't buy this superior soldier's account and said coldly.

  There was no choice, so the superior soldier and two inferior soldiers reluctantly got off the car. The superior soldier walked forward to prepare for an explanation, also good to hurry back.

  "Password!" Sergeant shouted.

  "Fuji-san below! Fall back!" The superior private reacted subconsciously.

  "Get back to your mother's head!" This time, the squad leader spoke authentic Chinese. In the eyes of the upper soldier's shock, the squad leader's command knife had already stabbed into their chest. At the same time, several soldiers behind the squad leader also swiftly and suddenly pounced on the remaining two lower soldiers.

  This group of people was Xu Bao and others. Seeing the three corpses on the ground, Xu Bao said coldly: "Throw the bodies into a nearby mountain ditch, move down the weapons and equipment on the vehicle and hide them, hurry up. Xiao Wuzi, you immediately return to the original road, tell the two squadron leaders that the situation has changed, let them stay in place and not come to meet us, after conveying the order, you also stay with the main force and don't come back."

  With this car, Xu Bao has the confidence to rush out without anyone picking him up.

  Ten minutes later, a car carrying more than ten soldiers slowly drove towards the Japanese army's arsenal.

  Less than five kilometers away from the arsenal, the car was stopped by a patrol of soldiers.

  "Halt, prepare for inspection!" a coarse voice bellowed.

  "We are the independent mixed First Brigade, we came to replenish ammunition, and also a mortar is broken, needs repair, you hurry up and let us pass!" Xu Bao said in his Kyoto accent.

  Xu Bao and others' Japanese was all learned from Chen Feng, and Chen Feng's Japanese was systematically rewarded with a standard Kyoto accent, so the disciples taught by Chen Feng were also in Kyoto accent.

  "Password!" The sergeant in charge apparently believed Xu Bao's words, but still checked the password as a matter of routine.

  "Mount Fuji is down! The order has been revoked!" Xu Bao said.

  "The cherry blossoms are in full bloom!"

  "The password is correct, good luck to you, let him through!" The sergeant in charge said.

  On the way, Xu Bao and others encountered three more checks, but the special forces who had already received the complete password all passed through the checks without any surprises, with their target directly pointing to the Japanese military arsenal.

  Within less than a kilometer from the second line of defense of the Japanese army, Xu Bao and others got off the car beside a small hill. From the telescope, Xu Bao saw that within less than a kilometer from the small hill where they were located, there was a not-so-small roadblock with a small squad of garrison troops stationed inside.

  Not far from the Japanese army's roadblock, there was a brightly lit military camp. The soldiers were coming and going in the camp. What excited Xu Bao was that within 300 meters of the camp, there were piles of wooden boxes filled with large quantities of goods. With his rich experience, Xu Bao knew at a glance that those boxes must be loaded with ammunition.

  In addition, next to the ammunition boxes are hundreds of large oil drums stacked up like a mountain, very eye-catching.

  "Is this distance within range of the mortar, Old Han?" Xu Bao asked Han Laojiu, who was the best at firing cannons in the special forces team.

  "Less than three kilometers, although it's a bit far, but we're in a commanding position, should be no problem, where to shoot, you just give the order." Han Laojiu said with his thumb.

  "We don't have many shells, only five rounds. Now listen to my orders: the first round hits those oil barrels, after hitting them, hit those wooden crates. Within one minute, fire all five rounds, and our mission will be accomplished. Do you understand?"

  "Understood, Captain!"

  "Alright, let's get started!"

  Yes

  ........